I’m fascinated by the world and it’s history-religion, science/technology, sports, politics and music of course. I’m always seeking out information from different sources and observing the world around me. Living is learning. So if there’s been a ‘silver lining’ to this steaming pile of a year (and there have been some, both small and large), it’s been an incredibly fascinating year on just about every level you can imagine! 2020 has been, quite literally, one for the books! People will be reading about and dissecting it for years to come. I’ve talked about this with friends at socially distanced ‘get togethers’, a uniquely 2020 phenomenon, decompressing and processing all that’s going on with & around us. Through all of the emotions I’ve been experiencing, I’ve tried to dispassionately appreciate (‘acknowledge’ might be a better word) what a dramatic time in world/human history we’re all living through.
Like every different profession, trade, discipline, job, etc., the pandemic has uniquely affected our patients and how we care for them. We’ve had to adapt and overcome the myriad challenges this year has presented. Early in the pandemic, we implemented ‘curbside assistance’ to assist our patients and the community during the initial ‘shelter-in-place’. We sought out & promoted the use of clear masks to address the problems/effects of face masks for hearing aid users and people with hearing loss in general. We’ve utilized advances in hearing aid & wireless technology to (thankfully) continue caring for our patients ‘remotely’.
Ironically though, the pandemic has eliminated (at least temporarly) one of the biggest challenges my patients typically face, background noise. Background noise is the most difficult communication challenge people with hearing loss face, even those using amplification (i.e. hearing aids.), because the vast majority of hearing loss is due to nerve damage. This damage causes the inner ear to code distorted information to the brain, which hearing aids can’t bypass. The worse the damage, the worse the distortion. The brain doesn’t get the quality of information it needs to separate the speech from the noise–bad data in, bad data out.
So in the short term, it’s made my job a little easier. Or a better way to put it is that it’s forcing me to defer one of the more challenging aspects of Dispensing Audiology down the road a bit. This is particularly true for new patients starting to treat their hearing loss with amplification & assistive technology or experienced users upgrading to the amazing new technologies now available. The proper ‘fitting’ of hearing aids is an ongoing process that is based on adjusting the programmed settings relative to the audiometric data & subjective evaluation/assessment of the user. For now though, they can’t evaluate the performance of the technology in all of the situations they will eventually find themselves in, hopefully sooner rather than later. But I’m aware and ready for my patients to contact me regarding these particular communication challenges when we finally actually do ‘round the corner’ of this pandemic once and for all. Happily, even though it remains the most challenging aspect for my patients, the technology available today has never been more up to the challenge.
For the record, I don’t particularly look at this as one of those ‘silver linings’ I mentioned above. But because of the necessary public health guidelines to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, for now, the pandemic has effectively shut down noisy environments.
At least here in the Bay Area. Bars, theaters, indoor dining…not happening. And it has worked to keep us safer and slow the spread to a minimum until there is a solution. We should be very proud of what we have collectively accomplished here in the Bay Area. I, along with everyone else, look forward to a time when we don’t have to worry about what we touch, the air we breathe or giving a hug. Keep up the good work, stay strong and stay healthy! Please keep supporting your local businesses. G-d bless!
This piece is dedicated to Alex Trebek-a true lover of knowledge and a kind, gentle soul. Your memory will always be a blessing. Rest in peace.
